Kinston primed for another title run

The first-year head coach and longtime assistant for the Vikings knows expectations are high for a team that returns five guys from a roster that won a state championship in 2012 — the team’s third in six years.

The first-year head coach and longtime assistant for the Vikings knows expectations are high for a team that returns five guys from a roster that won a state championship in 2012 — the team’s third in six years.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little bit of pressure,” said Tyndall, who will take over one of the most coveted jobs in prep basketball following coach Wells Gulledge’s departure after 11 years.

“When you’ve got good players that work hard, ultimately it makes the coach’s job a whole lot easier,” Tyndall said.

In Tyndall, the Vikings have a coach who never lost a game in three years as a middle school and junior varsity head coach — a bit of trivia Tyndall downplays at every turn.

“It’s like I say all the time: If I’d have lost, I’d need to be fired,” he said. “With the talent I had, you’re supposed to win.”

He might as well be talking about this year’s Vikings who, despite losing nine seniors to graduation and another starter in Andrew Lopez who transferred out of state, will have a bull’s eye painted squarely on their backs as the defending state champions once again.

The Vikings, who finished 27-4 last year and open this year at home against North Lenoir on Nov. 21, aren’t making things easy on themselves. The team lost in the semifinals of the East Coast Invitational in Jacksonville this summer and will play a demanding non-conference schedule featuring home games against perennial 4A powers New Hanover and Raleigh Millbrook, as well as a home-and-home series against 3A West Craven.

“My philosophy is that having a tough schedule pays dividends later in the year,” Tyndall said. “We’ve always scheduled tough, and our conference is good. Every year, it’s challenging. You benefit from it. You want to see your kids in tough situations.”

The team returns four players who contributed to the Vikings’ success in 2012: senior combo guards Denzel Keyes and Josh Dawson and sophomores Darnell Dunn and Brandon Ingram, the latter of whom is already receiving considerable attention on the national recruiting trails. Seniors VeQuain Joyner and Jeremy Taylor, junior Travon Jones and sophomore Mykel Hart will join the varsity squad after spending time at the junior varsity level a year ago.

“Even though we had a lot of senior leadership leave, we have high expectations,” Tyndall said. “We’ve got experience coming back for sure with five guys on the roster from last year that went to the state championship.”

Tyndall isn’t focusing on what the team lost (2012 graduates C.J. Bradshaw, Nakeil Williams, Angelo Keyes, Kyle Brown and Lopez). Rather, he is looking to the future and what this year’s team will bring to the table.

Page 2 of 2 - “We’ve never really been built on one player, even when Reggie was here,” Tyndall said, referring to former McDonald’s All-American and 2010 N.C. Gatorade Player of the Year Reggie Bullock, who is currently a junior at UNC. “That’s the beauty of our success. On any given night, you could have anybody step up. We don’t have to rely on one person.”

Senior Denzel Keyes, for example, led the team in rebounding last year and averaged a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds per game. Keyes said it would be different playing without his older brother beside him for the first time.

“I’m going to have to control the paint more by myself,” he said. “I’m going to miss him, but we’ve got to get out there and practice, listen to details and play defense like we did last year — and box out.”

Keyes, like Tyndall, doesn’t foresee a multitude of changes for the Vikings, other than a “new wrinkle here and there,” as Tyndall put it.

“We’ll have a lot of energy,” Keyes said. “Run and gun.”

Something else that won’t change is the team’s yearly goal of playing in the final game of the season.

“When you have the success we’ve had, it becomes tradition,” Tyndall said. “You shoot for (a state championship). You need a few breaks along the way, but you know what it takes to get there. Those sophomores got a taste of it last year, and everybody wants to be able to experience it again.”

No one has more experience playing in — and winning — state championship games than senior Josh Dawson, who was part of the championship teams in 2010 and 2012.

The senior guard averaged 14 points, six assists and five rebounds per game a year ago, but he doesn’t get caught up in any individual numbers.

“There’s not a heavy weight on my shoulders,” he said. “I have a lot of hard-working teammates who will also contribute. My only goal this year is to lead my team to a state championship.”